This invention is direct to a treatment for diabetes mellitus. Diabetes mellitus is a disease in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin, a hormone that helps the body's tissues absorb glucose (sugar) so it can be used as a source of energy. In people with diabetes, glucose levels build up in the blood and urine, causing excessive urination, thirst, hunger and problems with fat and protein metabolism.
In the United States, about 16 million people suffer from diabetes mellitus, although only half of these individuals have been diagnosed. Every year, about 650,000 people learn they have the disease. Diabetes mellitus is the seventh leading cause of all deaths and the sixth leading cause of all disease-caused deaths.
Without an appropriate level of insulin to help absorption, glucose levels increase in the blood because it cannot enter the cells. When the blood passes through the kidneys, organs that remove blood impurities, the kidneys cannot absorb the excess glucose. This excess glucose enters into the urine causing frequent urination to get rid of the additional water drawn into the urine. Excessive thirst occurs to trigger replacement of lost water in addition to added hunger to replace the glucose lost in urination. Additional symptoms include blurred vision, dramatic weight loss, irritability, weakness and fatigue, and nausea and vomiting.
Diabetes is classified into two types. Type 1 is known as immune-mediated diabetes (formerly called insulin-dependent diabetes). An estimated 500,000 to 1 million people in the United States have this type of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes destroys the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, usually leading to a total failure to produce insulin. It typically starts in children or young adults who are slim, but can start at any age. Untreated Type 1 diabetes affects the metabolism of fat. Because the body cannot convert glucose into energy, it begins to break down stored fat for fuel. This produces increasing amounts of acidic compounds called ketone bodies in the blood, which interfere with respiration. People with Type 1 diabetes must give themselves at least one shot of insulin every day. Individuals with Type 1 diabetes measure the level of glucose in a drop of their blood obtained by pricking a fingertip.
In Type 2 diabetes, or non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, (formerly called adult-onset diabetes), the body either makes insufficient amounts of insulin or is unable to use it. Type 2 diabetes often develops slowly. Most people who get it have increased thirst and an increased need to urinate. Many also feel edgy, tired and sick to their stomach. Some people have an increased appetite, but they lose weight. Other signs include repeated or hard-to-heal infections of the skin, gums, vagina or bladder; blurred vision; tingling or loss of feeling in the hands or feet; and dry, itchy skin.
Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90 to 95 percent of all cases of diagnosed diabetes in the United States. Each year nearly 600,000 new cases are diagnosed. The onset of Type 2 diabetes usually occurs after the age of 40 and often after the age of 55. Type 2 diabetes is known to cause problems with the kidneys, legs and feet, eyes, heart, nerves and blood flow.
If left untreated, Type 1 diabetes can result in diabetic coma (a state of unconsciousness caused by extremely high levels of glucose in the blood) or death. In both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, blood sugar, blood pressure, and blood fats must be well-controlled to prevent possible development of blindness, kidney failure, and heart disease. Also, tiny blood vessels in the body may become blocked-a dangerous complication. When blood vessels of the eye are affected, it can result in retinopathy, the breakdown of the lining at the back of the eye. When the kidney is affected it is called nephropathy, the inability of the kidney to properly filter body toxins.
According to the American Diabetes Association.RTM.), the total annual economic cost of diabetes in 1997 was estimated to be $98 billion dollars. That includes $44.1 billion in direct medical and treatment costs and $54 billion for indirect costs attributed to disability and mortality. In 1997, total health expenditures incurred by people with diabetes amounted to $77.7 billion, including health care costs not resulting from diabetes. The per capita costs of health care for people with diabetes amounted to $10,071 while health care costs for people without diabetes amounted to $2,699 in 1997.
In an effort to provide a natural source of insulin, some patients have received pancreas transplants. These patients must receive immunosupressant drugs to prevent their body from rejecting the new pancreas. However, the side effects of these drugs are often more life-threatening than the diabetic condition itself.
Consequently, there is a need in the art for a method of lowering blood sugar levels without requiring the injection of human insulin.
There is a further need in the art for a method of lowering blood sugar levels without requiring a pancreatic transplant.
There is a further need in the art for a method of lowering blood sugar levels that is effective, yet has little or no side effects.
There is a further need in the art for a method of lowering blood sugar levels that is inexpensive to administer.
There is a further need in the art for a method of lowering blood sugar levels that provides a consistent and safe leveling of blood glucose levels.
However, in view of the prior art in at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art how the identified needs could be fulfilled.